North American B-25J Mitchell "Lazy Daisy Mae"
In the 1930s, the US Army Air Corps began investing in medium bombers, beginning with the Martin B-10. When it came time for the B-10’s replacement, North American entered the bomber field for the first time with its XB-21 Dragon proposal. It was a failure, but it had established North American as a legitimate contender. When Britain and France opened a design competition for a medium bomber in 1939, North American submitted its NA-40, a streamlined, narrow-fuselage bomber with a three-man crew seated in tandem, in competition with Martin’s Model 179 and the Douglas DB-7. Douglas won the competition with the DB-7 (soon to be designated A-20 Havoc), but the USAAC was interested in a fast medium bomber and opened it to the NA-40 and Model 179.
North American designers reworked the NA-40, widening the fuselage to allow the flight crew to sit side-by-side, increased the bombload, and the number of crew to five, with more defensive guns. The NA-40B, as it was numbered, lost again to the faster Model 179, which would become the B-26 Marauder. However, because the B-26 was more expensive and took longer to build, the USAAC ordered the NA-40B into production as the B-25 Mitchell, named for controversial bomber advocate William “Billy” Mitchell. Production began smoothly in August 1940, with the only design change coming to the wing: the straight dihedral wing used in the first batch of B-25As led to stability problems, so on the outer wing panels the dihedral was deleted, giving the B-25 a gull-wing appearance.
The definitive Mitchell variant was the B-25J, which could be produced either as a solid-nosed strafer (with eight machine guns in the nose plus four “package” guns in cheek sponsons, giving the B-25J fourteen machine guns facing forward), or a glass-nose bomber. The B-25J equipped USAAF and USMC units in the Pacific, and USAAF units in Italy. While the 9th Air Force in Central Europe did not use the B-25, the Mitchell was heavily exported and was used extensively in Europe by RAF, Free French and RCAF units. Soviet units also used the B-25, delivered under Lend-Lease.
The end of World War II also ended the combat career of the B-25, which had been the most produced medium bomber of the war, with over 10,000 entering service. Replaced by jet fighter-bombers and the A-26 Invader, the B-25 was relegated to second-line duties, most being converted to crew trainers or VIP aircraft. The last flight of a USAF B-25 did not take place until 1960, and Indonesia used the Mitchell as late as 1979. Probably because of its length of service and numbers produced, over a hundred B-25s survive today, with as many as 45 still flyable.
B-25J 44-86891 never saw combat; it joined the USAAF in 1945, and was used as a training aircraft stateside, though (somewhat unusually for a CONUS-based aircraft), it got nose art and the name "Lazy Daisy Mae." Just before the end of the war, it was redesignated a TB-25J and used as a testbed aircraft at Wright Field, Ohio. By 1946, it was transferred to NACA at Moffett Field, California for the same purpose. It would return to Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson AFB) in 1949, and would remain there until 1958, when it was retired--one of the last B-25s in the USAF inventory.
Because of its relative lack of flight hours, 44-86891 was purchased some time afterwards by a warbird collector in Arizona, who kept the aircraft until 1978, when the USAF bought it back for display at the Castle Air Museum. It went on display initially as a Doolittle Raider in 1980, dedicated by Jimmy Doolittle himself, but as the Raiders flew B-25Bs rather than J-models, this was inaccurate. In 1993, 44-86891 was repainted as an aircraft of the 345th Bomb Group (Medium), the well-known "Air Apaches," one of the principal units of the famous "New Guinea Strafers" that was so devastating to Japanese airpower in the Southwest Pacific. It also got its nose art back.
When I saw "Daisy Mae" in May 2021, the colors have faded a bit, but I wish I had gotten a better shot of the nose art, which has been faithfully maintained. The nose art and name is based on Daisy Mae from the "Lil' Abner" comic strip that was popular during World War II.
North American B-25J Mitchell "Lazy Daisy Mae"
In the 1930s, the US Army Air Corps began investing in medium bombers, beginning with the Martin B-10. When it came time for the B-10’s replacement, North American entered the bomber field for the first time with its XB-21 Dragon proposal. It was a failure, but it had established North American as a legitimate contender. When Britain and France opened a design competition for a medium bomber in 1939, North American submitted its NA-40, a streamlined, narrow-fuselage bomber with a three-man crew seated in tandem, in competition with Martin’s Model 179 and the Douglas DB-7. Douglas won the competition with the DB-7 (soon to be designated A-20 Havoc), but the USAAC was interested in a fast medium bomber and opened it to the NA-40 and Model 179.
North American designers reworked the NA-40, widening the fuselage to allow the flight crew to sit side-by-side, increased the bombload, and the number of crew to five, with more defensive guns. The NA-40B, as it was numbered, lost again to the faster Model 179, which would become the B-26 Marauder. However, because the B-26 was more expensive and took longer to build, the USAAC ordered the NA-40B into production as the B-25 Mitchell, named for controversial bomber advocate William “Billy” Mitchell. Production began smoothly in August 1940, with the only design change coming to the wing: the straight dihedral wing used in the first batch of B-25As led to stability problems, so on the outer wing panels the dihedral was deleted, giving the B-25 a gull-wing appearance.
The definitive Mitchell variant was the B-25J, which could be produced either as a solid-nosed strafer (with eight machine guns in the nose plus four “package” guns in cheek sponsons, giving the B-25J fourteen machine guns facing forward), or a glass-nose bomber. The B-25J equipped USAAF and USMC units in the Pacific, and USAAF units in Italy. While the 9th Air Force in Central Europe did not use the B-25, the Mitchell was heavily exported and was used extensively in Europe by RAF, Free French and RCAF units. Soviet units also used the B-25, delivered under Lend-Lease.
The end of World War II also ended the combat career of the B-25, which had been the most produced medium bomber of the war, with over 10,000 entering service. Replaced by jet fighter-bombers and the A-26 Invader, the B-25 was relegated to second-line duties, most being converted to crew trainers or VIP aircraft. The last flight of a USAF B-25 did not take place until 1960, and Indonesia used the Mitchell as late as 1979. Probably because of its length of service and numbers produced, over a hundred B-25s survive today, with as many as 45 still flyable.
B-25J 44-86891 never saw combat; it joined the USAAF in 1945, and was used as a training aircraft stateside, though (somewhat unusually for a CONUS-based aircraft), it got nose art and the name "Lazy Daisy Mae." Just before the end of the war, it was redesignated a TB-25J and used as a testbed aircraft at Wright Field, Ohio. By 1946, it was transferred to NACA at Moffett Field, California for the same purpose. It would return to Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson AFB) in 1949, and would remain there until 1958, when it was retired--one of the last B-25s in the USAF inventory.
Because of its relative lack of flight hours, 44-86891 was purchased some time afterwards by a warbird collector in Arizona, who kept the aircraft until 1978, when the USAF bought it back for display at the Castle Air Museum. It went on display initially as a Doolittle Raider in 1980, dedicated by Jimmy Doolittle himself, but as the Raiders flew B-25Bs rather than J-models, this was inaccurate. In 1993, 44-86891 was repainted as an aircraft of the 345th Bomb Group (Medium), the well-known "Air Apaches," one of the principal units of the famous "New Guinea Strafers" that was so devastating to Japanese airpower in the Southwest Pacific. It also got its nose art back.
When I saw "Daisy Mae" in May 2021, the colors have faded a bit, but I wish I had gotten a better shot of the nose art, which has been faithfully maintained. The nose art and name is based on Daisy Mae from the "Lil' Abner" comic strip that was popular during World War II.